Remarks by the Secretary. Professor Feldman reported on the dinner meeting held on November 13. Provost Johnson attended the meeting. Professor Feldman indicated that the reorganization proposal from the Graduate Board was discussed. Following the dinner meeting, Provost Johnson met with the Graduate Board. There is no immediate action required by the Council.

Professor Feldman reminded Council of the December 18 dinner meeting and the regularly scheduled Council meeting to be held on January 9.

The appointment Dr. Elisabeth Strowick as tenured Associate Professor in German and Romance Languages and Literatures effective January 1, 2008 was approved.

The Master's of Science in Engineering in Financial Mathematics at the Whiting School of Engineering was approved.

The proposed changes to requirements of three Whiting School master's degrees were approved.

Further discussion of the report from Administration and Bylaws subcommittee review of Academic Council restructuring: Professor Dagdigian, chair of the Administration and Bylaws subcommittee, spoke about the results of the discussion of the Council meeting held November 7 and the Faculty Assembly meeting held on November 8. On the basis of the discussion in these two meetings, Professor Feldman had distributed a memo to the faculty on behalf of the Council. The memo elicited more comments from faculty expressing a wide range of opinions on three issues: 1) the apportionment of representatives to the Council, 2) the length of term, and 3) the type of voting.

It was reported that the following appointments were approved by the Appointments and Promotions subcommittee: Mr. Kai Loon Chen as Assistant Professor in Geography & Environmental Engineering effective 7/1/08, Dr. Achille Mbembe as Hinkley Visiting Professor in Political Science for Spring 2009 (1/1/09-6/30/09), Dr. William Lawrence as Visiting Assistant Professor in Political Science for Fall 2008 (7/1/08-12/31/08).

Open discussion. A Council member brought up the issue of the closure of the university in the event of bad weather, wondering if there was a way to keep undergraduate classes on the Homewood campus going independent of the closure of the university as a whole. Provost Johnson said she would consider this issue and would consult with the facilities department. Another Council member suggested that two levels of closure might be a good approach, and another suggested invoking a liberal leave policy.

Remarks by the Chair. Provost Johnson said that she has begun a search for candidates for a Vice Provost for Academic Affairs and also a Vice Provost for Research. The positions would be three-quarters time and would allow spending one-quarter to one-third of their time in their home school and department. The position of Vice Provost for Academic Affairs would be responsible for driving the strategic planning process across the university with Provost Johnson. The Vice Provost for Research would help implement some of the cost-cutting initiatives that will come out in the strategic planning process. There will also be an Associate Vice Provost position. This person will be at the PhD level but not a faculty member and will work at less than 100 percent time for the Vice Provosts but will do much of the work that is currently in Vice Provost Theodore Poehler's portfolio.

Provost Johnson reported on her meeting with the Graduate Board, during which four faculty, Professor Paul Dagdigian, Dean Ed Lattman, Dr. Peter Maloney, and Vice Dean Andrew Douglas, were appointed to draft the Graduate Board reorganization proposal. The 4 faculty who have been appointed to advise are working on something to bring back to the Council. Vice Dean Douglas has prepared a draft of the by-laws, and Dean Lattman has divided them into three sections-mission and vision, by-laws, and administration.

The meeting was adjourned at 5:15 p.m.

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